


Awakening

by Fyres



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Family Secrets, Hurt Jeremy, M/M, Magic Revealed, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Supernatural Elements, Witch Jeremy, Worried Bonnie, Worried Kol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-03-21 01:05:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13729851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fyres/pseuds/Fyres
Summary: Jeremy arrives in New Orleans where powers he never knew he had are awoken within him. Everything changes when he discovers his sisters best friend and himself are witches, Tyler was involved in the death of a guy in a drunken accident triggering a werewolf curse and the man Jeremy loves is an original vampire involved in a power struggle against Marcel Gerard.





	1. Arrival & the Truth

**Author's Note:**

> This fic idea just sort of came to me a few nights ago so I started making notes and managed to write two whole chapters in two days. I did proof read the one I'm releasing today about two or three times but if you spot any mistakes just let me know. Without further ado I give you awakening...

Jeremy arrived in New Orleans for the upcoming festivities. The sun was already starting to set, and the official day of Mardi Gras was just a few days away. The city was packed as the celebrations had already begun. Jeremy, Matt and Tyler had chosen to drive together and were the first to arrive. They decided to stay in the French Quarter as how Tyler had put it ’That is where the action is at’. As it turns out Tyler was right. It was still just a day before the celebration was supposed to begin but still, crowds of people took to day drinking, cheering and laughing with friends. The streets were decorated and all the stores and stalls were seeing the profits of this day. Vendors were pushing their products, calling over tourists with their amazing attractions and rare commodities. Jeremy bet that with one look at the bottom of those ‘rare’ commodities he would see a made in China label.

Jeremy walked over to one of the stalls where an old woman was working, she was wearing a robe and introduced herself as Madame Delphine. He would have laughed out loud, but he didn’t want to be rude. The woman was apparently a palm reader as she grabbed his hand and looked at the lines, Jeremy didn’t try to pull away. “I can read your fortune, your destiny…” he was intrigued now and decided why not, ‘when in Rome,’ Jeremy thought to himself, although technically he wasn’t in Rome.

The woman continued her sentence “…for a small price.” Jeremy wasn’t surprised. Nothing was free in New Orleans. He handed over the requested amount and then she continued. “I see… hm, a great secret will be revealed. An awakening on two fronts, for you and someone close to you.” Very cryptic but okay.

“Your path shall become intertwined with that of a stranger, a rather handsome but dangerous stranger. But be warned, when this happens your life will change forever. The choice is yours; follow this path into your destiny or stray and continue life as it always has been.” That seemed to be the end as she pulled away. There was no smile on her face like he expected after some big con. Instead, she seemed worried and intrigued.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by a pair of hands slamming against his shoulders, “C’mon Gilbert.” Tyler said aloud in a cheerful voice. It appears that Matt and Tyler were already making their way to their hotel. Jermy got up and left the woman who continued to draw in more tourists, business as usual. “What was that about?” Tyler questioned throwing an arm around his and Matts shoulders as they walked. Jeremy just shrugged as he still wasn’t completely sure himself on what had just happened. Tyler dropped the subject as they entered the hotel.

When they arrived at the hotel, Elena, Caroline and Bonnie were waiting in the lobby of the large building. The place was breath-taking, both inside and out, as the lights illuminated the night's streets. As he continued walking he took note of the décor of the room, a lot of white, statues and vases of flowers littering the room but in a way which seemed to work. Intricate patterns covered all the walls, floors and even the furniture in the room. There wasn’t a part of this place which didn’t scream New Orleans at him.

Upon arriving at the reception desk, he was asked for a name from the man behind it. The man looked to be in his late 50’s from the wrinkles and greying of his hair, about as old as this place which is what forced him to assume he must be the manager. “Gilbert,” Jeremy answered to which the man started entering something in his computer pulling out three different key cards. Jeremy and Matt would be sharing a room while Elena and Bonnie stayed together in another. This left Tyler and Caroline in their room together, they had been dating now for a few years. Jeremy handed a key card to his sister and another to Caroline. He then took off with Matt in search of their own room, luggage in tow.

It was a struggle fitting all six of them, plus luggage on the elevator but they made it work. Once the elevator arrived at their floor they filed out one by one with Matt and Jeremy going last. They then started to make their way to their room.

He opened the door to his room and dumped his bags on the bed closest to the window, after much debate with Matt the previous day he had won the rights to that bed. He took in the room; two queen sized beds, large window and glass door leading to a balcony, flat screen T.V. in view of both beds and a fully fitted bathroom. Thankfully they had been given a room high up in the building, meaning on the nights they were sleeping they would be able to avoid the noise of the never-ending celebrations.

Jeremy stepped out onto the balcony and leant against the barrier. As he looked out upon the city he could see people dressed in brightly coloured costumes and sporting masks, all of them dancing on the streets. The sound of the saxophone music reached his ears, normally Jazz wasn’t his favourite type of music but being in New Orleans he found he couldn’t resist tapping his foot to the sounds their instruments made.

There were buildings and parks all crowded and decorated with banners and other various types of colourful decorations for the occasion. He was grateful for the weather which, despite being in the midst of February, hadn’t turned to rain once. He found himself, however, getting cold and stepped back into his room. Matt was unzipping his bag and filling various draws and wardrobes with the little clothes he had brought for the one week stay.

Unpacking didn’t take long which left them with a few hours before they would head out for the night, which left him unsure of what to do in that time. Matt took it upon himself to suggest they head out for the bar, clearly not wanting to wait for the others to start. He was beginning to see a change in Matt since he got here, he seemed a lot more cheerful, the city clearly influencing him, and Jeremy was glad to see this new side of him.

Jeremy stopped in on his sister to inform her that he was heading out. When he did he saw her, Bonnie and Caroline already trying on various outfits for the night, that was likely to continue fir the next few hours before they would be ready to leave. She nodded in response and so he left the room, seeing Matt now speaking with Tyler. He headed over and they went in search of a bar by the name of Rousseau's.

Rousseau’s was packed full of people drinking and laughing, despite this when Jeremy entered the room he got a feeling in the pit of his stomach which he couldn’t quite explain. He brushed it off to the day of travelling and just kept walking deeper into the bar and towards the counter where drinks were being served. There was a young man behind the bar who looked to be about Jeremy’s age, Jeremy smiled at him and asked for three shots of Tequila to which the man didn’t even question him.

Jeremy was only 17 but after the death of his parents he had begun to look a little older from the stress and grief which took him almost a year to overcome. After getting past his stoner phase he began to work his body back into shape and was told that he looked at least five years older than he actually was, which was now working to his advantage. He took the drinks from the person behind the bar and just as he turned around he came face to face with a handsome man. His thoughts went immediately to Madame Delphine, _“Your path shall become intertwined with that of a stranger, a rather handsome but dangerous stranger.”_ He had a smile on his face which Jeremy was drawn to the second he saw it. Behind that feeling of attraction, he could also feel the sense of danger, just as she had warned, which had now risen from the pit of his stomach and was banging against his head.

Apparently, without realising it, he had let this show. “You alright mate?” the man before him questioned with a look of concern on his face. His accent was alluring to Jeremy and that combined with the concerned look on his face was enough to push most of the feeling of danger down. Jeremy nodded in response and smiled back at the other man, this caused a smile to return to said man’s face. The man in question extended a hand towards Jeremy, he flinched slightly at this, the feeling of danger not completely gone, until he heard the man speak. “The names Kol,” he said with a flirtatious grin on his face, clearly not missing how nervous Jeremy was around him, but not knowing the real reason why.

\-----------------

Kol was sat in the corner of the bar, watching as people entered the room. He was fully intending to enjoy everything that the celebratory season had to offer; the food, the parties and most of all, the people. People from all over entered the bar, each with their own qualities he was drawn to. His eyes immediately landed on a man which entered the bar, he was drawn to him the second he saw him; his bulging muscles, sculpted facial features and deep brown eyes. He saw the man freeze in the doorway for a second before heading to the bar and ordering his drinks. Josh had been working the bar tonight, the young man which Niklaus had turned not long after returning to the French Quarter, to think people said _he_ lacked self-control.

After deciding he’d stared at the man long enough he got up and made his way to the bar, pushing his way past a few drunken individuals he arrived at his target. Josh noticed the original but decided it was best not to say anything and went back to work, to which Kol was pleased with; he didn’t want to start a scene in a crowded bar. When the young man turned around Kol was pleased to see the man up close, until he saw tension and a slight look of fear on his face. He was sure he’d never met the man before so he chalked it up to nerves and asked if he was feeling okay. “You alright mate?” Kol inquired. The man didn’t take long to recover and a smile appeared on his face, Kol definitely liked that look on him. Once he nodded his response Kol reached out with his hand to introduce himself, while most people wouldn’t have seen his twitch his keen senses did pick up on it. Kol put on his best flirtatious look which seemed to ease the man, “the names Kol.” It didn’t take long for the other person to raise his hand to return the gesture, “Jeremy,” he said shaking Kol’s hand.

Kol didn’t miss the slight shake of Jeremy’s hand when he raised it, ‘this kid is seriously nervous’ Kol thought to himself but pushed through it. “All these drinks for you?” Kol questioned, taking a seat next to Jeremy and tilting his head in the direction of the drinks.

Jeremy had to think on that for a moment, all rational thought seemed to be leaving his brain but it eventually came back to him. “No,” he said making no move to continue speaking. Kol lifted an eyebrow, telling him to continue with that one look. “Urm… I’m here with some friends.” He responded, looking around the room, the place was crowded and he couldn’t see them anywhere ‘great’ he thought to himself.

Confusion filled Jeremy’s face and he looked a little lost, Kol honestly felt a little sorry for him. Jeremy turned to Kol when he felt a hand land on his shoulder, he shuddered at the touch but didn’t want to move his arm. He couldn’t explain why but he suddenly felt more at ease around the man and decided to take a seat himself, picking up one of the drinks and finishing it in one swift movement. ‘Much better,’ he thought to himself. Kol had lowered his hand when Jeremy took a seat and Jeremy missed the contact. Kol was glad to see he wasn’t making a move to leave him anytime soon. Jeremy lifted another drink, offering it to Kol who took it with a smile on his face and finished it in the same fluent motion Jeremy had.

“How ‘bout a game of pool?” Kol gestured to the empty table across the room. Jeremy smiled and got up from his seat, finishing the third drink. Kol heard Jeremy respond with an agreement and so the two took off to the table, not before Kol asked for a Bourbon from the man behind the bar, Jeremy caught him saying the name Joshua so he clearly knew the guy.

At the table when Kol arrived with a glass of Bourbon Jeremy was just beginning to rack the balls. Before long Jeremy picked up a cue stick and offered the other to Kol, who was the one to break. For most of the game, it was just a normal game of pool. Kol laughing slightly at Jeremy’s frustration as he missed a lot of the shots, Kol sinking the balls with ease but occasionally missing a few (some even on purpose to give Jeremy a fighting chance against the 1000-year-old vampire). It wasn’t until halfway through the game that Kol noticed something, the cue ball was completely off course but then curved towards the target ball, sinking it in the pocket. Jeremy seemed amazed as if he’d made some impossible shot but Kol was just intrigued. Everything was starting to make sense to Kol now, from Jeremy’s fear at the bar to the sudden turning of the ball. When Jeremy turned to Kol, a slightly smug but mostly excited look on his face Kol couldn’t help the laugh he broke out in, the kid had no idea what he was. Kol didn’t want to raise his suspicions but the power he could feel emanating off of him made it clear, so he just continued the game, Jeremy managing to win in the end.

“Good game mate,” Kol stated to the other man. Jeremy smiled to himself, he’d never really been any good at pool, always being more adept in contact sports. Kol was torn while standing before him. On the one hand, he didn’t want to scare Jeremy off but on the other, he thought that Jeremy had the right to know he was a witch. With his mind made up, Kol decided he would tell him on more familiar ground. “Wanna come back to my place?” The words came out of his mouth without even giving them a second thought.

Jeremy’s eyes widened then and Kol realised what he’d just asked. He did like seeing the nervous look on Jeremy’s face and he actually seemed to be considering the proposition he thought that Kol had made. Kol was going to elaborate a little more when Jeremy nervously responded with a yes. It was Kol’s turn to go wide-eyed this time, clearly, alcohol had caused some poor decision making on Jeremy’s part. Kol’s face turned into a flirtatious smirk causing Jeremy’s heart to skip a beat and then beat much harder and faster in his chest. Kol’s hearing picked up easily on this and so he took Jeremy’s hand and lead him out of the bar. On the way out Kol noticed two people looking at Jeremy with questioning looks on their faces, also mixed with a bit of amusement. Jeremy just nodded at them and waved before being pulled out of the bar.

Matt and Tyler appeared very confused but made no move to stop him, so Jeremy took that as a go-ahead from them. The feeling of danger never completely left him the entire time he was with Kol. His head was telling him to get out of there and run to safety but his body had other ideas and wouldn’t allow it. When Jeremy looked up he was in an unfamiliar area. He was in a large courtyard, surrounded on all sides by a large building. “Welcome to the Abattoir,” Kol said while gesturing around himself.

“You live here?” Jeremy questioned with disbelief in his voice. Kol feigned hurt at the insinuation he couldn’t possibly live there but went to grab Jeremy’s hand again. “I do live here, most days that is,” Kol said this thinking about all the times that Marcel has kicked them out and taken the home and French Quarter for himself. Jeremy seemed to miss the last part and didn’t raise any further questions.

Kol lead Jeremy towards his room where he knew he kept his grimoire’s, intending to show them to Jeremy when he tells him that he’s a witch. He knew that he’ll need something to help convince him. When he opened the door to his room he let Jeremy enter first before going in and closing the door behind him. When he turned around he felt a pair of lips meet his. He was going to push away from Jeremy, he couldn’t do this now, not with what he’s about to say but he just melted into the kiss.

At first, Jeremy could feel Kol resist but when he felt Kol kiss back he took that to mean he should continue, which he did, deepening the kiss. When he pulled off of Kol for air Kol finally found it within himself to stop, holding Jeremy in place so he couldn’t continue. Jeremy frowned, unsure and thinking he’d done something wrong. “I need to tell you something,” Kol stated, piquing Jeremy’s interest slightly but Jeremy still was confused. “It’s about you,” Kol said this walking over to a bookshelf. Kol’s words only made Jeremy’s confusion grow.

“What about me?” Jeremy had originally intended this to just be a thought but found his mouth betrayed him as he spoke anyway. Kol dragged Jeremy toward a chair in the room, not forcefully but still enough strength to get him moving, then told Jeremy to sit, which he did.

“I know that you feel scared around me and you don’t know why. Like your head is trying to warn you.” Jeremy was definitely confused now. How the hell did he know that and what the hell is going on here? He was going to voice these concerns when Kol raised a finger to tell him to just listen and so he did. “You know I’m dangerous, your head told you that much.” Kol huffed a breath before continuing, fearing he’d lose him at this point. “I was suspicious originally but then when the ball curved the way it did on the table and you dropped a few other hints without realising it I knew that I was right in what you are.”

Jeremy went from being happy and slightly nervous when he entered the room, then to confused, but now, now he was just downright pissed. “What am I?” Jeremy raised his voice causing Kol to cringe at hearing how angry he was.

Kol decided honesty was best here and so he spoke. “You’re a witch, Jeremy,” Kol stated it so simply, so plainly that Jeremy knew that Kol really believed it. Kol placed the grimoire in front of Jeremy, open to a page which described perfectly the feeling he had around Kol. The grimoire in question had been taken from a witch in the mid to late 18th century and was showing slight age damage but beyond that was perfectly preserved.

The page was about witch senses and the supernatural, how they warn a witch of danger when in close proximity to other supernaturals. ‘This is making no sense, what does that make this guy then?’ Jeremy thought to himself, never raising the question. Jeremy started looking through the book, there was a spell for creating barriers, a binding spell, a spell for moving objects (as he had apparently done) and a spell to start fires. Jeremy had seen enough then and closed the book.

Jeremy’s eyes nearly shot out of his head when he shut the book and saw the cover with the name Beatrice Bennett written on it. ‘That can’t be a coincidence, can it?’ Jeremy thought to himself.

Jeremy jumped up out of his seat then, causing Kol to copy his actions. “Jeremy, are you alright?” Kol asked him then. Jeremy laughed, very loud and very forceful. Despite the laughter Kol still looked at Jeremy with concern, he knew what he was probably thinking but didn’t say anything.

“That book,” Jeremy pointed toward the grimoire on the table, “If I am a witch and what it says is true then what are you, hm?” He raised his eyebrow at the original who still bore a look of concern on his face. ‘Should I answer that question’, Kol though to himself, ‘would it make things better or worse, probably worse but I have to say something’.

Kol shook his head and turned toward Jeremy “I’m… I’m a vampire, Jeremy.” He said this for the first time in his entire long life with regret. He couldn’t give him the full truth, that he’s one of the first vampires in existence and so are all his siblings because that would definitely frighten him.

Jeremy had enough then, a frickin’ vampire. In the span of 10 minutes, he is told that not only is he a witch but he has to believe vampires are real. ‘No, not buying it,’ Jeremy thought. He went to storm out of the room when his hand was caught by Kol’s, stilling him in place. “Please, Jeremy.” The look on his face combined with the sadness in his voice was almost enough to still him, almost. Jeremy pulled out of Kol’s grip, opened the door and slammed it shut before Kol could come after him. Once he was outside of the ‘Abbatoir’ as Kol had called it he started to run, he just kept running for what felt like a lifetime before he fell to his knees and sat inside of an alleyway.

Around him, he could hear laughter, goddamn laughter and people partying. He knew this would be going on for the rest of the night, it was Mardi Gras after all, but that didn’t change the fact that he felt so out of place right now. Jeremy sat there and finally all that had happened consumed him and he broke into tears. This wasn’t him. He hadn’t cried this much since the death of his parents and yet here he was, in a cold, hard, dark alleyway balling his eyes out.

Jeremy stayed in the position he was in for what felt like hours, but what was in reality only around 5 minutes. When he rose from the ground he sorted through everything in his head; walking into the bar, meeting Kol. When he thought about kissing Kol his hand unconsciously went to his lips, remembering everything, the feeling of Kol’s lips against his own, the heat of Kol’s body from their close proximity and he found himself missing that moment. Of course, that thought was completely pushed aside when he remembered what Kol had said after that. ‘Me, Jeremy Gilbert, a witch.’ Jeremy thought to himself, audibly laughing at the thought, not just from how absurd it was but also from the fact he actually believed it. ‘And fricking vampires,’ no, this was beginning to be too much again so he took a deep breath to steady himself. He remembered then what was written on the front of the book ‘Beatrice Bennett’ and he resigned himself to what he was going to do next. He had to talk to Bonnie.

He pulled out his phone then and pulled up Bonnie’s number. Whilst waiting for her to answer he started walking through the quarter and navigated through the crowds of people, some in masks and fancy costumes while others just wore casual clothing but celebrated all the same. When he was met with her voicemail after his second attempt at calling her he left her a message saying he needed to talk and then tried Elena’s number. Elena picked up after the third ring with an overly cheerful, for this point in time, “What’s up little brother?”

He could just about hear the music in her background over the loud music which was encasing him and knew she must be busy partying with the others. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard Caroline ask Elena if that was Jeremy and then Matt over the phone saying “How you doing, Jer?” He could just about picture Matt’s suggestive look, he knew what they thought had happened between him and Kol because that’s exactly how he had pictured his night going.

He didn’t have it in him to talk about what had happened so he instead just asked the question he wanted to ask “Do you guys know where Bonnie is?” He asked his question as calmly as he could, he didn’t want to lash out at his friends, at his sister. It wasn’t their fault what had happened, not only that but if he did lash out at them then he would have to talk to them about what had happened and he just didn’t have the energy in him for it.

Elena’s mood never changed, she was still extremely excited and probably incredibly drunk as she spoke: “that party pooper stayed at the hotel, said she had a headache and was going to stay in tonight.” When she said that he could hear Tyler, Matt and Caroline boo very loudly in the background, Jeremy took this to mean they were all as drunk as Elena was, possibly even more so if he knew Tyler, and he did. Jeremy thanked Elena then hung up the phone, starting his walk to the hotel.

When Jeremy reached the hotel he was greeted by the manager at the desk, he responded as politely as he could in that moment but otherwise just kept walking toward the elevator to head upstairs. When he reached the floor that all of their rooms were located on he tried remembering which one was Bonnie’s then knocked once he was sure he’d found it. Sure enough Bonnie opened the door wearing pyjamas and with a very sleepy expression on her face. Jeremy assumed he must have woke her and felt sorry about that but he needed to talk about everything with someone. If she really is the Bennett that book is referring to then she could quite possibly be the only one that can help him.

Bonnie saw Jeremy standing there and knew right away that something was up. He seemed irritable and despite trying to hide it was very clearly panicking. “Jeremy are you alright?” She questioned him, hoping for a truthful response but he instead went for an attempt at calm and collected, she wasn’t buying it. “Come in.” She said this stepping aside to allow her best friends brother to enter the room.

When Jeremy entered he saw Bonnie’s bed sheets were pulled aside and looked slept in so he knew he must have woken her. “Sorry for waking you, I just need to talk about something.” Bonnie waved off his apology, instead telling him that he can talk to her about anything, emphasising that last part to show that she means whatever is bothering him now. “Something happened tonight,” he said this sounding incredibly cryptic. “I just have to know, do you have anyone in your family called Beatrice Bennett?” Jeremy looked at her then, all hope in his eyes.

Bonnie had to think about what he had said for a moment, at first she wondered why he’d want to know that and why he was so worked up about it but thought about it all the same. She tried to remember the time her grams told her about her family line, she did recall a Beatrice or ‘Bea’ Bennett, her great-great-great grandmother or something like that. “Yeah… Yeah, Jeremy, I think I do. Why?” She raised her question full of concern, he wasn’t making any sense.

Jeremy raised a hand to his face and muttered a damn under his breath. Bonnie was getting really worried, she had no idea what was going on. Jeremy went to leave the room but Bonnie grabbed his arm and pulled him back, “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me why you woke me up, asked about one of my dead family members and are acting so damned weird right now.”

He knew she was right, he couldn’t come in here, scare her with his crappy situation and then just leave her to process it all on her own. Jeremy took a seat on Elena’s bed and Bonnie sat on her own, opposite to him. ‘How the hell did I get to this from earlier today?’ he thought to himself about how unrealistic all of today had been. He huffed a breath “Okay,” he started, “ I met this guy at a bar, this really cute guy, but that’s not important.” He began to retell his story, about the book and Kol calling him a witch. In all of his story, he left out two important details, the guy’s name and the fact he’s a vampire. Jeremy had no idea why but he was protecting the vampire, he still didn’t completely believe any of what he said either way.

When he turned to Bonnie he expected disbelief but instead saw shock. “Bonnie.” She was completely lost in her thoughts and didn’t hear Jeremy’s voice. When she eventually did tune back into reality she got up and pulled a book from under her bed, placing it on her lap.

She looked back up at Jeremy from the pages of her book. “Did this guys book look anything like this one?” When she said this she turned her grams grimoire towards Jeremy. It was Jeremy who was now shocked, ‘is this all some cruel prank, is Kol gonna jump out now and scream gotcha along with his sister and all his friends,’ Jeremy thought all of this and was beginning to very visibly shake. Bonnie put her hand on his, no, this was real, she’s being serious. That means that Kol really is a vampire and he really is a witch. Jeremy again found it all to be too much and ran to the bathroom to throw up. When he was done he turned to see Bonnie holding a bottle of water for him which he took and drank slowly trying to adjust to everything.

He sat down next to Bonnie this time. Bonnie had one arm around his shoulder, while Jeremy’s head rested on her shoulder. Her other hand was placed over both of his, neither of them was speaking as Bonnie just waited for Jeremy to talk first. As luck would have it she didn’t have to wait as long as she thought she would. “So you’re a witch?” It wasn’t really a question but more just Jeremy processing it, she responded with a yes all the same. “And I’m a witch?” She wasn’t so sure that time, she hadn’t actually seen him use his magic.

“I’m not sure,” she responded honestly, “ I can’t really sense anything from you, like something is blocking me, but if this guy who has my ancestor’s grimoire says you are then I guess it’s possible.”

“How did you find out? You know, that you’re a witch.” Jeremy was so confused, he’s told he’s a witch by a… by a vampire, he was still having a hard time with that one, and then she says he might not be. Bonnie took a candle from out of the bathroom and put that on her bedside table.

“Let’s try this,” she said looking at the candle. “Focus on the candle’s wick.” Jeremy reluctantly went along with her lesson, curious himself to see if this works. “Now, forget about everything else and just imagine the wick lighting on fire, only think about what you want it to do.” He did so and was shocked when he felt a warmth flow from the inside of him and suddenly felt one coming from where he knew the candle was placed. When he opened his eyes he saw that the candle was burning and he looked to Bonnie to see what he could only describe as a thrilled look on her face.

“It worked,” Jeremy said this with disbelief, “and you didn’t do anything did you?” The thought only lasted a moment and when she shook her head to indicate it was all him he was no longer scared. Everything was true, it wasn’t all some prank or trick. Jeremy hugged Bonnie as hard as he could. Bonnie herself was relieved, she had someone other than her grams that she could talk to about being a witch and magic and, well, everything.

Bonnie was confused to see Jeremy’s face go from ecstatic to terrified in less than a second “Whats wrong, Jer?” That is the question, isn’t it? He’s an all-powerful witch, he has a friend he can turn to so what was up with him. That’s when he realised what was bothering him. It was, as he thought, all true. Everything. So that meant Kol really is a vampire. A blood-sucking vampire.

“Bonnie. There’s more I need to tell you.” She gave a look to tell him to keep talking, rubbing a hand up and down for just a second to try and comfort him. “It’s the guy I mentioned, the one who told me I’m a witch.” She frowned then, partly because she didn’t like the idea of this stranger being in possession of her families book and knowing about Jeremy but also because she could tell Jeremy was really worried. “This guy, his name is Kol.” She knew that name but couldn’t place why. “I could feel something off about him, something dangerous. He told me… he told me that I felt that way because he’s a vampire.”

Bonnie knew then exactly who Kol was. Kol Mikaelson, her grams had told her all about the originals. “Jeremy. That guy, he’s bad news. Him and his siblings.” That thought frightened Jeremy, ‘siblings. So there’s more of them.’

Jeremy was torn now, he wanted to see Kol again. Whether he wanted to punch him in the face or apologize and kiss his goddamn face Jeremy still wasn’t completely sure about. Of course, there was also Bonnie’s warning and the warning that his magic was giving him. It still felt weird to Jeremy, thinking about magic as if it was a real thing because apparently, it is. “I know Bonnie.” That still didn’t change the fact that he wanted to defy every instinct in his body to go and see him. “I’ll… I’ll sleep on it. Think over all that’s happened. If I decide to see him again then I’ll tell you first.”

That answer seemed to appease Boonie as she pulled him into a hug and wished him a good night. Jeremy returned his own good night and then walked out of the room. He stood in the hall for a short while, just staring at his door and then decided to enter his room. Once the door was open he walked in and collapsed onto his bed, not even bothering to change as he was both physically and emotionally exhausted.

That night he dreamt a lot about witches. A recurring nightmare in his head being the witch trials throughout the centuries. As ridiculous as it was he kept thinking that people with pitchforks would come to his door to burn him at the stake. That dream always had different endings, sometimes he would burn and it would start all over again. Other times he was saved, a few times by Bonnie, some even his sister, once it was Matt and the last one was Kol. That was his favourite, the one which stuck with him. That ending lead to an entirely different dream, definitely not a nightmare. Kol was kissing his neck, starting to use his teeth and Jeremy was enjoying every second of it.

Jeremy could feel the warmth radiating off of Kol’s body as Kol pressed the lower half of his body against Jeremy’s. Kol started to kiss down Jeremy’s body, starting at his shoulder blades and then moving down to Jeremy's chest. He took his time with each of Jeremy’s nipples, scraping his teeth along them as he pulled away, this elicited a moan from Jeremy.

Kol took his time worshipping every inch of Jeremy’s muscled body. When he reached Jeremy’s waistband he pulled away to look into Jeremy’s eyes and kiss his lips. The kiss was long and deep, Kol moving his tongue into Jeremy’s mouth with little resistance. Kol pulled Jeremy’s jeans down to his ankles and pressed his hand against the bulge in Jeremy’s boxers.

That, however, was when Matt chose to slam the door open in his drunken state. Jeremy jolted awake and looked at Matt, he was walking into the room supported by Tyler who seemed to be just as drunk but not affected as much by it.

Tyler placed Matt down on his bed and looked over towards Jeremy “Morning Gilbert,” he said this extremely chipper for someone who had been up all night long drinking and partying. Jeremy just grunted, upset to have been woken from his dream, and walked over toward his bathroom to take a shower.

He walked into the room and stipped off his clothes. Once he determined the shower was at an ideal temperature he stepped under the water and began to clean himself off. The shower was a refreshing change from his restless night and helped to rejuvenate him, waking up the last bit he needed. As the water washed the dirt and sweat from his body he felt as if loads of weight were being lifted from him, as if the sweat contained all of what worried him and which was then washed away down the drain.

When he stepped out of the shower and dried himself off he wrapped his towel around his waist and stepped out into his room. To his surprise, Tyler had fallen asleep on his bed, too exhausted to make the short walk down the hall to his and Carolines room. Jeremy just huffed out a breath and shook his head. He walked over to the wardrobe entirely set on what he was going to do today. As he got changed he heard Matt snoring very loudly behind him, Jeremy was definitely glad he had returned earlier, he could have never slept with all of that noise.

Jeremy stepped out of his room and walked across the hall to knock on Bonnie and Elena’s door. He heard Elena inside “Ugh… who’s at the door?” She was just as drunk as Matt and already had a headache creeping up on her, right now she just wanted to sleep for a century. He heard shuffling in the room but instead of Elena coming to the door he saw Bonnie, she appears to have gotten up when Elena came back just as Jeremy had when Matt did since she was already dressed for the day and looking much more awake than Jeremy felt.

“Breakfast?” Jeremy questioned the other witch who gave a smile, said her goodbyes to Elena and then shut the door. Apparently, too hard as he heard Elena groan about the noise. With that, the two were off and entered the elevator just as a drunken couple got off of it. Despite the fact that it was 7 in the morning a lot of people were still rolling in from their night of partying.

Once they reached the dining area, which was well decorated and well stocked with everything from breakfast serials to a full English breakfast, he began to pile his plate up with the all you can eat food. The room was surprisingly empty considering how crowded the city was at this time of year. From what he could see there was mostly older couples, some families and a few young couples and groups of friends who Jeremy guesses must have come in a lot earlier than his friends had.

Once he was pleased with the amount on his plate he made his way over to the table that Bonnie had already taken for them and sat down opposite her, digging into his food and trying to think of the best way to tell her what he was going to say next without upsetting or angering her.

“Bonnie,” Jeremy said this very cautiously. “I want to go and see Kol again today.” With that Bonnie froze, not taking another bite of her food.


	2. Drained & Awoken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy steels himself on the decision to go and visit Kol, hoping to grow closer to the other man and to get past his fear, mostly he just wants Kol to know that he is okay and Jeremy want's to know the same of him. However, when he arrives everything falls apart just when he thinks things were about to go his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys! Here is another update as promised. There are points which may be considered slightly graphic, depending on how detailed your imagination may be. But, overall it's just Kol and Jeremy mending fences after Jeremy's rather abrupt exit and Kol showing his sweet side. Without further ado I give you the latest update, enjoy...

“You want to do what?” Bonnie questioned, filled with disbelief and scepticism. She couldn’t have heard him right, Jeremy cannot want to see a dangerous and unkillable vampire, but she swears that he had just said the complete opposite.

“I want to go and see Kol again today.” He said as if it was the most normal thing in the world, at least that’s what it sounded like to Bonnie, he still held some caution in his voice. Jeremy was worried; worried she’d come out and say no, you can’t see him, or no, you’re not allowed to go see him, no, I forbid you to see him. It is for that very reason that he was surprised by what came next.

Bonnie gave a huff of her breath, put the fork holding the food she was about to eat down, and took Jeremy’s hands into her own. “Okay. Fine.” Jeremy then released a breath that he didn’t realise he was holding and squeezed Bonnie’s hand slightly, telling her “thank you” for doing this for him. She did, however, have one condition “I give you my blessing to see him, but, only if I can go with you. To keep you safe.” It was a reasonable ultimatum, Kol is dangerous he knew that much. He also knew he didn’t actually need her blessing, he’s a grown man capable of making his own decisions. But, he didn’t want to do something that would upset her, something like going off and getting killed by an original vampire without telling her first, for example.

“Deal.” He said as he released one of his hands from hers and turned the other into a handshake to show that the deal had been made. After that they continued to eat their breakfast, complaining and joking about their loud roommate's entrances into their room that morning and the man that had taken up residence in Jeremy’s bed after he’d left it.

They also spent some time talking about all of the day’s her grams outright told her that she’s a witch while Bonnie just laughed and called her crazy, “Well, who’s laughing now?” Jeremy responded enthusiastically.

The tone of their conversation at breakfast and the taxi ride to the Abattoir had changed substantially. Bonnie was sat completely still and staring out the window as the city past her by, the official day of Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday, would arrive tomorrow and the celebrating of the people continued. Jeremy, on the other hand, was fidgeting non-stop worrying about all the possible negative outcomes of showing up at Kol’s house uninvited. ‘What if he killed me? What if he killed Bonnie? What if he just flat out ignored me?’ The thoughts kept running through his head and for some reason, it was the last one which scared him the most.

When they arrived at their destination Bonnie was the first one to exit the vehicle. Jeremy took longer. At first, he was too lost in his thoughts to notice that they’d arrive, but then, it was the fear, that’s what kept him the longest. Eventually Bonnie took it upon herself to come around to his side of the taxi, open the door and pull Jeremy out of his seat. Considering her small size, she was pretty strong and it was assisted by the fact that she was definitely not up to standing around outside of a vampires home all day.

She coaxed Jeremy forward and then he was walking. Eventually, he was standing in the courtyard which he remembered from the previous night. He tried his best to remember the way to Kol’s room when the feeling from the previous night at the bar came back to him, the warning of danger. One look at Bonnie told him that she felt it too, ‘definitely a witch thing’ he thought to himself. He expected to hear Kol’s voice but instead, it was the voice of a woman.

The woman in question was now stood before him, long blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes and quite tall, although, not as tall as Jeremy. “Who the bloody hell are you?” The woman inquired of him, she had an accent just like Kol but her’s seemed different, weird since he guessed that they were probably related from the feeling of fear his witch senses were giving him. “Well… I don’t have all bloody day. Now speak, before I become impatient.” She said this while visibly clenching her hand into a fist, he had a strange feeling that she already had become impatient and didn’t want to see what she did next.

“Urm… I’m Jeremy, Jeremy Gilbert. I’m looking for Kol.” He hadn’t meant it to but as he spoke those words it came out as more of a question, he had hoped to remain strong and not let on his fear but he couldn’t help it, these people terrified him. She seemed to perk up slightly at that, it made him nervous. She started to walk around him, analysing him. Jeremy cursed himself internally for sounding so weak and scared around her but tried not to let his fear show anymore as she took in every detail.

She turned then to Bonnie “And you are?” Bonnie didn’t flinch at all at the sudden attention that turned on her. Surprisingly, to Jeremy, throughout all of this she hadn’t let on a single sign of fear despite the fact her senses were probably screaming at her to run and never look back. Bonnie seemed to think for a minute, should she give this vampire her name. She saw no harm in it and then spoke.

“Bonnie Bennett.” She said it so plainly and without a single sign of a stutter that even the blonde was impressed, then the name sank in.

“Bennett,” She repeated looking at Bonnie to which she nodded. She seemed to consider it for a moment, what she was considering Jeremy had no idea and probably didn’t want to know. She turned back to Jeremy “I remember you, from last night. Kol brought you by, did he not?” She raised her eyebrow, questioning him and Jeremy was quick to nod in response. “The witch that didn’t know he was a witch. And then suddenly you show up with a Bennett witch in tow.” Jeremy wanted to question how she knew all of this before remembering that she’s a vampire, ‘I suppose that vampires really do have enhanced hearing,’ Jeremy thought to himself before being snapped back into reality by the woman.

She seemed to be growing bored of this conversation and so she brought a swift end to it, “the names Rebekah. My brother is in his room, hasn’t left it since you left last night. I believe you can find it on your own?” It was phrased as a statement but he knew it was a question, he nodded and then Rebekah took off to do something she thought was clearly more fitting of her time. Jeremy wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about Rebekah, terrified definitely, but he wasn’t sure if he liked her yet. Honestly, he didn’t know why he needed to like her, would he even see her ever again after today?

Bonnie rested a hand on his shoulder, asking one simple question with her face ‘are you okay?’ Jeremy nodded and gave her a weak smile then started to walk in the direction of Kol’s room, as far as he could remember. When he reached the door he went to knock but turned back to Bonnie, “Can you wait out here? If I need you I’ll shout or you’ll know to come in I just… I want to talk to him alone.” She understood and so nodded at him to go ahead, stepping back from the door to wait by the side of it.

Jeremy raised his fist and held it there for a second before finally knocking on the door. It took a few seconds, five agonisingly long seconds for Jeremy, but the door swung open to reveal Kol. Jeremy took Kol in for a minute, he looked like he’d been sleeping from the dishevelled look of his hair but his face didn’t show any sign that he had been. “Do vampires even need to sleep?” Jeremy found himself asking the question without even thinking about it, he wanted to hit himself for asking such a stupid question. That was until he saw Kol smirk, the same way he had the night before which had him weak at the knees and drawn to the man.

“No, not really. But it helps pass the time.” Kol’s signature smirk was plastered across his face then as he stepped aside. “Come in love,” he said that so easily and there was that feeling again, not the danger from his witches senses but the attraction. Kol eyed the woman next to Jeremy for a second to see what she would do, she just gestured at him to go ahead and shut the door, that one gesture held power and a promise that if he did anything he would regret it, Kol definitely liked her. “Judging from your question when I opened my door and conversation with my dear sister I’m assuming that you believe me now.”

As Kol spoke he lowered into a chair in his room and gestured for Jeremy to do the same “How did you…?”

“Vampire Jeremy, remember.” He said it so simply, so matter-of-factly that Jeremy couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped him as if being a vampire was the most normal thing in the world. Kol smiled as Jeremy laughed, liking the ease at which Jeremy spoke around him now. The question burning in his mind though, why did he come back. “Speaking of love,” Jeremy blushed then and Kol definitely liked that look on him. “Why did you come back? Aren’t you scared of me, most rational people would be?”

Jeremy had to contemplate that question, it was true. He was scared at what Kol might do, how he might react to Jeremy running out on him or showing up here not only without an invitation but with a strange Witch that he doesn’t know. When Jeremy thinks about it the whole thing seems incredibly bizarre. “I guess…” he thought a second longer, “I guess I just had to see you again. After leaving last night and seeing the name in that grimoire, Bonnie,” he tilted his head to the door, “managed to convince me that it was all true.”

Kol was happy he had come back. He wasn’t sure how he felt about having a Bennett witch around, knowing how powerful they are, but he was happy to see Jeremy again. “I tried to tell you, love.” There was the blush again. “Perhaps it was all too much at once though, hm?” Jeremy nodded. He had began fidgetting, still a little nervous about showing up here when he felt Kol’s hand land on top of his to still him. That warm, comforting pressure reminded him of the night before, what they had done and what he missed about him when he left. Jeremy smiled at him and Kol returned the same affectionate smile.

The moment was over, however, as quickly as it began with Bonnie barging into the room. Kol went to berate the witch when he heard the reason she had come in “Marcel,” Kol muttered under his breath but still, it was loud enough for Jeremy to hear. With that Kol was gone, Jeremy sat there awe stuck for a moment at the speed in which the man had left before regaining control of himself.

“What’s going on?” Jeremy questioned his friend. Bonnie grabbed a confused Jeremy by the hand and led him out of the room. Once outside, however, they were met with the sound of people yelling and running at each other. Jeremy could make out two of the people as Rebekah and Kol, he also saw another man; tall with brown hair and sporting a fancy suit protecting Rebekah from behind.

“From the looks of it, vampires are invading this place,” Bonnie stated but Jeremy could hear the fear in her voice. It was a complete bloodbath as vampire after vampire was torn apart. He saw the man in the suit go down and then receive a stake in the heart. The originals had strength on their side but what they seemed to need was numbers. Jeremy saw Kol turn to look at the man in the suit as he went down but despite the fact he was clearly fighting for them he seemed barely phased by it, the guy was dead, wasn’t he?

Jeremy turned to Bonnie, “should we do something.” Bonnie looked back at him, unsure.

“What can we do?” Bonnie questioned him. “We’re two barely trained witches and there look to be 50 or so vampires out there. My grams taught me some basic spells but nothing as advanced as we would need now.” Bonnie was quite frankly impressed by the originals, holding up for so long against such a large amount of attackers. An idea came to Jeremy then and he rushed into Kol’s room, pulling out the book he remembered from yesterday and handing it to Bonnie. “Beatrice’s grimoire,” Bonnie asked, shocked and intrigued at the same time. Bonnie snatched the book from Jeremey’s hand, quite possibly a bit too forecully, and began to flick through the spells in the book before landing on one that she thought might work. “Take my hand.”

Jeremy was confused about what she was doing, why did she need his hand? “Stop thinking and just take my hand,” Bonnie screamed at him and so he did. Bonnie started to mutter in Latin then. He could feel a heat flow through him and out into Bonnie and he knew what she was doing, or rather guessed, she was channelling him. Bonnie continued the spell and Jeremy fell to his knees, Bonnie did the same. The pain was unbearable and he wanted it to stop but he also wanted to help Kol.

The spell continued and almost a minute had passed, the fight was still continuing and another of the originals were down, this time it was Rebekah and Jeremy could see Kol standing back to back with another man and fighting off the masses. “Bonnie,” Jeremy yelled at her in an attempt to get her to hurry up, she continued chanting.

The wind started to pick up and Jeremy felt blood start to run down his face from his nose. He didn’t think he could take much more of this. As luck would have it the spell began to take effect. All the vampires started to burn under the sun as the spell which was bound to all of their rings was counteracted by the spell Bonnie was chanting. One of the smarter vampires realised what was going on and took off running toward them but Kol managed to tackle and rip the heart out of the man. He didn’t take long to return to his brother's side and continue the fight.

Half a minute passed and the vampires rings had all failed, most lay dead under the sun, others were still burning as the sun hadn’t quite finished them off yet while the smarter ones had fled. Jeremy noticed that the originals had also been affected and saw Kol’s and the other man's skin burning away before the last of the attacking vampires fell and Bonnie stopped chanting.

Jeremy was breathing heavily now and just as he was about to fall to the ground he felt arms surround him. When he looked up he saw Kol who was starting to heal from his wounds caused by the sun. “Sorry for…” Jeremy began to apologise but was cut off by Kol.

“Don’t apologise for that love, you were a great help. Try not to speak.” He said this while moving his hand through Jeremy’s hair in a comforting gesture. Despite Bonnie being the caster of the spell she was stronger and more experienced and so it didn’t affect her as badly. She was still on her knees, breathing to try and regain her strength when the brown haired man walked over, completely healed from the stake which Jeremy could have sworn tore through his heart, ‘maybe that was just a myth,’ he thought to himself.

“Who’s this and who the hell are you?” Bonnie inquired, looking at the brown-haired man and then towards the dark blonde man which stood next to Kol.

“I believe that since it is you who has entered our home that it is us,” brown-haired said this looking at himself and his siblings, “who should be asking you that question.”

“I’m one of the witches that saved your sorry lives,” Bonnie said this now having collected most of her energy, attempting to stand up as to look more intimidating. Thankfully, her attempt was successful as it would have been rather embarrassing had she fallen on the floor after that.

The blonde haired man sported a large smirk on his face, clearly taken by the ferocity of Bonnie. “Reminds you of our sister does she not brother?” the brown-haired man stated this to the blonde, ignoring Bonnie as he spoke. Bonnie felt annoyed as the man agreed and continued to ignore her until finally, they had decided the game was over, “my names Elijah and this is my brother, Niklaus.”

Throughout all of this Kol continued to comfort Jeremy, who had still not healed fully from the spell. It was then that darkness finally took him over and he slipped off into sleep, he could hear Kol’s voice pleading with him not to but sleep still managed to take him.

\--------------------

When Jeremy first started to wake he was in an unfamiliar area. He remembered being wrapped in Kol’s arms, Kol’s hand running through his hair. Now he was somewhere different. The surface was soft, he felt as if he was lying on a cloud. The pain, however, was still there. His whole body was on fire and he couldn’t move. He was caught between being awake and asleep. He was aware but had no control over his body, he felt trapped in his own skin and the feeling was terrifying.

He heard voices shouting nearby. Bonnie was yelling something about him being safer with her but Kol was putting up a fight, he blamed her, but he also blamed himself for something, Jeremy could tell from how he spoke. Jeremy couldn’t remember what had happened, how did he get here, he remembered going to see Kol, he remembered Bonnie running into the room worried about something and he also remembered being held in Kol’s arms as something had happened. He couldn’t remember what that something was. Exhaustion took him once again, the small effort he was putting into his thoughts was too much and he drifted off once more.

When he was asleep again he dreamt. He was dreaming about his arrival at New Orleans and all his friends he had arrived with. One detail was different; Matt never suggested they go to the bar, to Rousseau’s. Instead, he and Matt stayed in that night and watched T.V. until they were joined by the others and they all left together. They went out to various bars and parties where musicians were playing on the streets, he danced, he got drunk and he laughed with his friends. By the end he wound up back in his bed, Matt snoring in the bed next to his but Jeremy was too drunk to care. He was happy, happy to spend that night with his friends, happy to be in his warm bed, safe. Something was missing, however. Something he couldn’t quite place.

Jeremy woke again after that and knew what that something was. He felt a hand holding his, rubbing circles on the top of his in a comforting gesture. He was in the same state of awake as he had been before but this time, being less focused on arguing with Bonnie, Kol could tell Jeremy was awake. He heard the change in his breathing and his heart start to beat faster. “Jeremy,” Kol began, a sad tone in his voice which seemed out of place to him. He remembered the way Kol had spoken to him before, all joking, flirting and what sounded to him to be happy. “You’re okay love, you’re safe here.” Jeremy believed him, he believed that he was safe in his presence.

He heard another voice, this one was female and he recognised it, he’d known that voice for years. “Jer, it’s okay. I’m still here.” It was Bonnie. Jeremy could hear what sounded to him to be a hint of tiredness in her tone. Had she slept at all since the fight? He could remember it now. The blood-bath as the vampires invaded the building, the spell that he and Bonnie had cast and the pain that it left him in. ‘How long had he been asleep? What would his sister be thinking?’ Worriedly, thoughts kept running through his head, all of them on his friends, his family, the situation he was in. Kol seemed to pick up on this as he squeezed his hand even tighter. The vampires touch managed to ground him and he wasn’t worried anymore. He was safe, Bonnie was here and so was Kol.

Jeremy found enough strength to squeeze Kol’s hand to let him know that he’s okay. Before long Jeremy was being lifted into a sitting position. He missed the comfort of the bed but guessed that they thought it was time he woke up. When Jeremy opened his eyes he could only hold it for a second or two before it became too much. It wasn’t overly bright he just felt like he hadn’t used his eyes in weeks. Jeremy tried a few more times before his eyes finally adjusted and he recognised the room around him, it was Kol’s.

The first person he saw was Bonnie. When he turned to his left she was sat on a chair just a small way from the bed. She attempted a smile at him, to comfort and reassure Jeremy but all Jeremy saw was the destroyed look on her face. Her eyes were red as it looked like she had been crying. There were large bags and black circles in her eyes. She had definitely not slept in a while. He wanted to say something to her, to comfort her or just tell here he’s fine and that she needs to take care of herself, but he found he couldn’t speak, his voice hoarse as he tried.

Jeremy coughed then, and it hurt. He could taste blood in his mouth when he coughed, and his throat felt incredibly raw. Within seconds Bonnie was up and holding a glass of water to his mouth. He drank it slowly and felt his throat become less painful, the cool liquid easing the soreness quite significantly. When she put it down on the bedside table next to him he turned his head to his right to see Kol. Kol was sat much closer to him than Bonnie was. His chair pulled right up to the bed and he was holding both of Jeremy’s hands in his own, Jeremy found he liked the comforting gesture. Kol looked to be in a similar state to Bonnie but just not as bad. Jeremy found himself wondering if Kol had fed the whole time he was here, forcing him to realise that the man was a vampire who probably killed people. That made him a bit more uncomfortable around him and Kol pulled away slightly, not completely but he still gave Jeremy some space.

“You feeling okay Jer?” This voice was Bonnie’s and he turned toward her and nodded slightly. Obviously, he wasn’t feeling okay, he felt like shit. But, he still felt better and wanted to let her know that. “Good. You were out for quite a while.” With that he was panicking slightly, the question he wanted to ask but couldn’t find the strength within himself to find the words was on the tip of his tongue.

Kol was back again in an instant and Bonnie too got closer, rubbing a comforting hand up and down his arm as Kol tightened his grip on Jeremy’s hand. Not enough to hurt, but it was enough to convey the thought he was having, ‘it’s okay, we’re here.’ Kol spoke then, calmly, slowly and with caution, “you, you’ve been out for about two days now.”

‘Two days. He’s been here for 48 hours. God, what must everyone be thinking, they could think he’s dead right now.’ Jeremy again was thinking the worst and Kol and Bonnie just waited for him to calm down, for the thoughts in his head to get quieter, continuing their comforting gestures. Once Bonnie was sure Jeremy had calmed down enough she spoke, “I called Elena and told her that you were with me and that you’re fine. She seemed a bit pissed that we left without telling her but she’s fine. She just thinks that we’re out partying somewhere. They didn’t wake or get over their hangovers enough to notice we were gone until a few hours ago, I suppose I should probably feel a little hurt by that.” She laughed a little and that calmed Jeremy enough. His sister wasn’t worrying and wouldn’t start calling the police looking for him anytime soon.

With that weight off his shoulder, Jeremy slumped further into his sitting position, getting as comfortable as he could with the pain he was still in. Bonnie seemed to relax at that, stopping her moving motion and just resting her hand in place. Kol had even let up on his grip slightly. Thoughts of the previous day were running through his head. The fight, all the vampires he and Bonnie had killed. Jeremy wanted to ask how Bonnie was doing but when he looked at her he saw that her only issue seemed to be sleep deprivation, “Bon,” Jeremy painfully started. “You should sleep, you look like crap.” Jeremy laughed a little then, which in turn turned into a cough. That, in turn, had Bonnie raising a glass of water to his lips which he drank from again. Bonnie placed the glass down and went to argue but Jeremy put on his best insistent look to tell her that it’s not a question and she acquiesced to his demand. She rubbed her hand up his arm once more and then left the room to sleep in one of the Mikaelsons many guest rooms.

Jeremy and Kol sat in silence for a while. Jeremy started staring at Kol’s face to try and gauge how he was feeling while Kol, slightly uncomfortable at the questioning look, just ran his thumb over Jeremy’s hand. “You look like crap, too.” Jeremy resigned himself on saying. Kol feigned hurt at the insinuation that he looked anything other than perfect to which Jeremy smiled at. That, however, didn’t last long as Kol too gave in.

“Yeah. You had me worried for a second there.” Kol looked anywhere other than Jeremy’s face as he said this until Jeremy squeezed his hand to grab Kol’s attention. Kol stared into Jeremy’s eyes and Jeremy too stared back at him. The room was silent but it was a comfortable silence.

Jeremy found that the silence went on too long and wanted to say something. It is then that he realised he’s not wearing the clothes he had arrived at the Mikaelsons wearing. He was in a slightly tight fitting white t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. His Jeans and Black T-shirt were in a pile on the floor nearby but his hoodie was missing. Jeremy raised a questioning eyebrow at the pile of clothes on the floor. Kol turned his head to see what Jeremy was looking at and laughed at that, both at Jeremy’s confusion and his own embarrassment. “I wanted to make sure you were comfortable,” Kol said this in a way that Jeremy knew he was telling the truth and that he cared. “Your hoodie had blood on it,” Jeremy remembered his nose had begun to bleed during the spell then, “we did everything we could, but it didn’t make it.” Jeremy laughed at Kol’s choice of words and Kol smiled then seeing Jeremy happy and full of life once more. As Jeremy began to cough Kol used him vampire speed to run around the bed and grab the glass of water, placing it in front of Jeremy’s lips. Jeremy had to fight to hold back jumping away from the sudden appearance of the glass.

The day passed by with Kol by his side, occasionally leaving to get more water or helping Jeremy get to the bathroom. At one point in the day, Rebekah even stopped by to ask how he was doing, thankful for his help in killing Marcel’s army. Apparently, Marcel had run when Bonnie and Jeremy’s spell began so he was still out there somewhere. A few hours after Jeremy had sent her away Bonnie returned and was now on the side of the bed opposite to Kol. The two of them seemed to be getting along better than when Jeremy had first started to wake up but he had a feeling it was just for his benefit.

Elena did call at one point, wondering why they had still not returned. He could also hear a slightly panicking Matt in the background. “I’m fine, we’re fine, Elena,” he said this looking between Bonnie and Kol, a look to say she worries too much. “We’ll be back soon, I promise.” She seemed to want to protest to that but Jeremy just said “goodbye” and hung up the phone before she could question him further. He didn’t want to write of his sister like that but he didn’t know how to explain any of this to her.

He had found out from his aunt Jenna just a year ago that Elena’s father was actually his uncle but had no idea who her mother was. Chances were there is a 50/50 chance that she is also a witch, depending on which parent he got his powers from, he would have to ask his aunt at some point, Jeremy thought.

Sure enough, he was getting up and managing to find his footing a few hours later. Kol had offered to give Jeremy some of his blood to heal him but Jeremy shook his head, “I’ll heal in my own time,” Jeremy calmly said. Kol could tell that he still wasn’t sure how he felt about him being a vampire. He wanted to insist, to help Jeremy heal quicker but he also didn’t want to push him.

Jeremy walked over to the remainder of his clothes and stripped out of the ones that Kol had loaned him. He turned to see Kol not so subtly eyeing his body up and down, completely shameless and uninhibited in his actions. Jeremy raised an eyebrow at him and Kol turned around, Jeremy still saw him give the occasional glance his way but didn’t care too much.

Once he was wearing his black t-shirt and jeans Kol fully turned around to look at Jeremy and admire his appearance. He looked much better than he had hours before. Fully rested and only a little bit on the paler side. Kol handed him one of his leather jackets to keep him warm as it was still February and quite cold out. While Jeremy didn’t usually go for leather clothing he liked the idea of wearing something that Kol had wore and so took it while thanking Kol and slipping it on.

They stepped out of the room and met with Bonnie. She looked at Jeremy for a moment, noticing the jacket. She had to admit, it suited him. Kol let out a small growl beneath his breath which Jeremy missed but Bonnie heard very clearly, she raised her hands in surrender and stepped away.

The day of Mardi Gras had been and gone and people had already started to leave New Orleans, to get back to their normal lives. As was usual in New Orleans there would still be a lot of people coming out at night for the various celebrations they have almost every day of the year, but not nearly as many as there had been for Mardi Gras. There was nothing normal about the life Jeremy would be going back to, now that he knows he’s a witch and vampires are real he knows he'll never look at anything the same ever again. Bonnie headed for the road where they had a taxi waiting, leaving Jeremy alone with Kol. Jeremy knew that he’d be heading back to mystic falls today so this was likely to be goodbye.

“Kol…” he didn’t get far through that sentence before Kol’s lips were on his. The kiss was slow and passionate as opposed to their first kiss which had been rushed and more focused on lust. Kol deepened the kiss, darting his tongue out of his mouth and into Jeremy’s, the latter happily allowed him access. When Jeremy finally did pull away for a breath he was left staring into the eyes of the other man, he was leaning into Kol’s chest, his weight fully supported by the other man. He kissed him once more, slow and lasting no more than a second or two before he pulled away.

Kol slipped Jeremy’s phone out of his pocket and input his contact details before handing the phone back to him. Kol gave a flirtatious smirk then, “Call me sometime.” He rushed one more kiss and then playfully shoved the other person away in the direction of his friend. Bonnie had been growing impatient, rolling her eyes occasionally at the scene before her but also happy for Jeremy.

When the two of them got in the vehicle Bonnie turned to Jeremy with a questioning look, also slightly concerned. “Be careful around him Jeremy. He may care about you but he’s still a vampire, one of the first vampires.” Jeremy smiled at the thought that the first statement implied, would he have the need to be careful around him, would he see him again. His face shifted to convey seriousness as he looked at Bonnie for the second part.

“I know and I will be.” They sat in silence as the car pulled away and drove for a few minutes. Both of them thought about the events over the past few days. While they had originally planned to come out to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras they ended up almost dying and then living with a family of vampires for almost three days. They were broken out of their thoughts as Jeremy’s phone rang, it was Elena. “Hey, Elena, we’re coming back now…” While he had thought she was calling to check up on them he was shocked to hear her panicked tone.

“Jer, thank God I’ve been calling for hours. It’s Tyler. Something’s happened, something bad. Get back here fast.” With that she hung up the phone, Jeremy relayed the message to Bonnie and the two had very worried looks on their faces. Jeremy went to look at his missed calls and sure enough there were multiple missed calls from both Elena and Matt going back hours. After everything that had happened over the past few days now Tyler was possibly in danger, can the universe not give them a break.

Bonnie asked the taxi driver if he couldn’t go any faster after being stuck for more than two minutes in the traffic caused by the crowds of people without moving even an inch. When the man said it wasn’t possible Jeremy quickly, possibly a little too forcefully, thrust money into the driver's hand for their short drive and then stepped out of the vehicle. Bonnie followed suit and the two made their way over to the pavement. “The hotels only a few blocks away, we can run from here.” Thankfully Bonnie had opted for wearing trainers and not heels when she went to the Mikaelsons, anticipating a fight with one of them.

Thankfully that fight never went past arguing, Jeremy wasn’t completely sure who he was more worried about; Bonnie or the Mikaelson’s. They ran at a quick pace, Bonnie managing to keep up with the more athletic Jeremy. Bonnie and Elena would occasionally go on runs together and so she was used to this type of activity and managed to overtake Jeremy every now and then. Despite the small competition that the two of them had slightly broken out into they still never forgot the reason that they were running.

They slowed slightly, but not completely, as they entered the hotel. They jogged over to the elevator but opted for the stairs being quicker. The manager eyed them for a second, told them not to run in the hotel and then he rolled his eyes when they still kept running toward the stairs. They took the stairs two steps at a time and eventually made it to their floor and crashed through the door. When they were in the hall they saw a few people; some strangers who were eying them after their loud and swift enterance, the others were Matt, Caroline and Elena who were standing outside of Tyler and Caroline’s room. Caroline was crying as Elena tried to comfort her and get some answers out of her. Caroline couldn’t stop crying as Elena held her and tried to get her through the initial panic.

Matt came running over then. “Tyler is freaking out in there and won’t open the door. Caroline has no idea what’s going on with him and we are all really, really worried.” Jeremy put a hand on Matt’s shoulder and then walked toward the door after telling him he’ll give it a shot. While Tyler and Jeremy used to hate each other, quite possibly loathe each other being a better word, they had grown closer after Tyler found out that Jeremy wasn’t in love with Viki. Tyler had thought Jeremy had liked Viki even though Jeremy knew that he was in love with Viki. When Tyler found out that Jeremy actually liked him, for a while he couldn’t stop laughing, it was so obvious how had he missed it. Tyler just told Jeremy he was flattered but he’s not into guys, Jeremy was shocked at first that he’d known and then got over it. The two had become good friends ever since.

“Tyler. It’s Jeremy, can you let me in.” No response, he tried again. “Tyler whatever it is I’ll help you with it, but you’re gonna have to let me in.” He heard movement, “Just me, I promise.” It was then that the door clicked open, it wasn’t opened all the way which meant he wanted Jeremy to come in. Caroline wanted to enter the room, to ask what was going on. Jeremy held up his hand as she tried to take a step forward, “It’ll be fine Care. Just give me a minute.”

When Jeremy entered the room it was a mess; bedding was all over the place, some of it torn. A chair was missing one of its legs and there were claw marks on the curtains. If Jeremy didn’t know any better he could’ve sworn a wild animal was set loose in this place. He saw Tyler hunched over on the floor, Jeremy went to move closer until he heard Tyler growl out, “No… Just, Just stay there.” His voice sounded strange, deeper than usual. He could also hear the faintest hint of a growl escaping from his throat, like that of a dog or differnet kind of predator.

Jeremy was confused now. What the hell was up with Tyler, what had happened here and why was Tyler growling. “Ty, can you look at me? You’re really starting to freak me out right now.” Tyler considered it for a moment before turning to Jeremy. When Jeremy saw Tyler's eyes he jumped backwards out of instinct. Tyler looked back down quickly after that but it didn’t change what he saw. Tyler’s iris was a deep gold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys. Again there should be another update on my fic in a months time where we will find out what happened with Tyler and what Marcel was actually after with his failed attack.


	3. Shift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of chapter 2 Tyler tells Jeremy the story of how he triggered his werewolf curse. Jeremy is left stunned and with a choice to make, to reveal what he is to his friend, or keep it a secret and find another way to help the man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. It's almost been two months since my last update, sorry for such a long wait. If you spot any errors please feel free to point them out to me, I didn't proof read this as much as I usually would (since I wanted to get it out sooner rather than later). As always I hope you enjoy...

Jeremy looked on at Tyler with wide eyes, taking in the sight before him. He could see little of Tyler’s face as he had turned away but what he could see were sharp fangs pointing out from a few points in his mouth. He was covered in sweat and it was obvious from the intense heat and smell in the room. Jeremy slowly went to open a window when he heard a low and deep growl emanate from Tyler’s direction. “I’m just gonna open a window buddy, not being judgy or anything but it really stinks in here,” Jeremy said this while letting out a slight laugh, an attempt to ease Tyler into trusting him. Clearly, it hadn’t worked as Tyler let out another low growl in Jeremy’s direction.

Quickly but carefully Jeremy backed up from Tyler and the window, raising his hands to show he doesn’t mean Tyler any harm. For a moment they stood there in silence, Jeremy taking in the sight before him. Despite the fact that Tyler had turned away from him he could still see the slight glow of his eyes, the sharpness of his…fangs, Jeremy pieced together all of that and figured the only logical explanation, “a werewolf,” Jeremy mumbled quietly.

He had no idea how it was a logical explanation, none of this was logical. ‘Was anyone in his life human? I mean whats next; Ghosts, Wendigos, where does any of this end?’ Regardless of the questions running through his mind, he forced himself to remain calm, he had to help Tyler now. ”Ty. Buddy, it’s okay, it’s just me.” Tyler must have heard Jeremy mutter his theory as he had backed away from Jeremy faster than his mind could comprehend. Tyler was now back against a wall, the balcony window, and couldn’t lift his eyes from the ground.

Jeremy knew that it wasn’t the best idea, letting Tyler get backed up against a wall. If Tyler truly was a Werewolf then he would react like all predators in that situation, he would pounce. Realising this he slowly took a few steps back to give him more room, at which Tyler very visibly eased up. “Tyler. It’s okay, I’m not afraid of you and I know you don’t want to hurt me. I just wanna know what happened.”

After hearing Jeremy's words Tyler gave a huff of his breath, signifying that he had calmed some and was quite possibly willing to talk. Jeremy looked outside at the now rising sun, it seemed that Tyler had gotten lucky and missed the full moons peak that night and didn’t fully shift, Jeremy was not looking forward to seeing a fully sifted Tyler.

“Can I sit?” Jeremy gestured to the bed opposite to Tyler, who looked up briefly with golden eyes then just as quickly looked back down before nodding his permission. Cautiously he moved forward and took a seat in front of Tyler on the bed, while Tyler stayed on the floor making no move to go anywhere.

For a moment it was silent, no one spoke, no one moved and no one even breathed too loudly. After a while, Tyler gave another dog like huff, which Jeremy planned to tease him about when this was all over, and began his story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been days since anyone had seen or heard from Jeremy and they were all a little worried about him, none more than Elena who called at least 5 times a day with her concerns. Occasionally Bonnie would answer, tell her everything was okay but then just give some excuse as to why Jeremy couldn’t talk. Most times Bonnie wouldn’t answer at all, but, their days went on all the same. Bonnie said Jeremy was safe and so they believed her, that is exactly why they all went out tonight for their final night in New Orleans. Tyler finished getting ready before heading off to Matt’s room where he was just finishing getting his costume on, which Elena and Caroline insisted he wears. “Ready to take off?” Tyler asked the second the door opened. Matt waved Tyler into the room grabbed his phone, wallet, did a quick double check then voiced that they could leave.

After picking up Caroline and Elena from the room they were getting dressed up in, they took off to the Jazz Club they had all agreed on. It was a place a few minutes walk from the hotel named Fusion, that didn’t stop the girls from insisting they take a cab as it was impossible to walk that far in their shoes, or so they had said. After a three minute drive, they arrived at the club and jumped out into the cold streets. After paying the taxi driver their small group took off to the doors and entered the crowded building. The club was packed with people laughing, dancing and drinking as the Jazz band played on in the background.

The group takes off to a standing table a few metres from the bar while Tyler goes to get them some drinks. He had been nominated to buy drinks as he looked the oldest and had the most realistic fake ID, perks of being the mayor’s son. Slowly he walked up to the bar where a small, middle-aged woman was serving the drinks. He easily requests four drinks for him and his friends at which the woman looks him up and down for a second with an analytical eye. Tyler didn’t break under that gaze for a second, doing his best to convey confidence and maturity. It seemed to work as the woman smiled and got to work on making the drinks.

As he waited he took in the scene around him. People had flooded into the club, some wearing costumes and others wearing casual clothing. All the same, everyone was enjoying themselves just as much. On top of the masks and costumes, he saw there was a band at the far end of the room on a stage, appearing to really get into the music they were playing as they never stopped moving or swaying on the stage. Tyler himself was wearing a costume which Caroline insisted he wears, it took some begging and pouting on both their parts but he was the one who eventually caved. It wasn’t much of an outfit, he was shirtless, body paint in intricate patterns covering his chest, sides and back.

Not a second later he hears the woman behind the bar speak “Here ya go!” She shouted over the noise of the music and people. He nodded his thanks, took the drinks and re-grouped with his friends. For a while, they develop a routine. Tyler got the drinks, a contest broke out to see who could drink theirs the fastest, they spoke, laughed and Tyler got more drinks. Every now and then the band would play a tune they couldn’t help but dance to.

A few hours passed and by this point, they were all very, very drunk. Two guys appearing to be drunker than even Tyler approached at one point and began to flirt with Elena and Caroline. At first, they all found it slightly amusing, Elena and Caroline brushing them off. When the two guys became more shameless, insistent and handsy with their flirting Matt and Tyler interjected. Having scared off the two guys they got back to drinking and laughing again, everything that had happened forgotten. Around Tylers fourth or fifth run for drinks, he had lost count, one of the two guys approached him. The guy had been taller, older and by all appearances stronger than Tyler.

The guy began to make threats to Tyler, telling him that he should back off and stay out of his way. Tyler mostly ignored him, waiting for his drinks to return so he could ditch the infuriating drunk next to him. However, the second he mentioned the ‘hot blonde’ who was his girlfriend he snapped. Tyler swung a fist squarely into his jaw and gave his own threats “back off man or I will beat you to a pulp.” Tyler threatened, holding up his fist to show he wasn’t messing and would do it again. Before long the bartender returned and saw what was happening, “Not in my club! Take this outside!” She ordered the two men.

Tyler decided he really wasn’t worth it so he took his drinks and went off to rejoin his friends that he couldn’t see easily through the crowds of people. Just as he was passing by the door on the path to their table he was pushed outside by the other guy, too drunk and stupid to know when to give up. “Okay listen…” Tyler started as the drinks fell out of his hands and the glasses smashed to the ground. He didn’t get to speak, however, as the guy swung a fist at Tyler's face, too quick for him to react, and he fell to the ground.

Deciding against restraint Tyler jumped up at the guy and tackled him to the ground, swinging his fist a few times at his face and then backing away. After the scuffle was over he looked down at the guy to see he wasn’t moving, his chest wasn’t heaving to show he was breathing and he wasn’t making a move to get up himself. That’s when he looked up and saw the blood pooling under his head. Tyler quickly checked for a pulse and then panic started to set in as he realised the guy was dead, “oh god, oh god…” Tyler muttered as he paced for a while.

Moments later he could hear voices coming from down the street, there was a small group slowly approaching him. Realising they still hadn’t seen him he knew he had two choices; call the police or run and leave it to the approaching group to call them. Making his decision he started at a quick and steady pace for his hotel. As he started running he felt himself start to heat up despite the cold February air and his bare torso. He knew it was out of place but chalked it up to the exertion. The more he ran the more he thought about everything and suddenly his panic turned into fear, which itself turned to terror.

Tyler crashed through the doors of the hotel earning himself a few looks from the man behind the desk and a few of the other residents at the hotel who were wandering around the lobby. As he stumbled over to the elevator the heat continued to rise in his body as did the terror he felt. After the agonising wait for the elevator to reach the ground floor he heard a ding to signify its arrival and fell into it, leaning against the wall for support and pressing the button to take him to his floor.

Anticipation, frustration and finally, anger. He was left to stew in all of these emotions as he waited for the elevator to reach his floor. Each one was just fueling the other and he could feel all control slipping. Another emotion was mixed in with all of that. Confusion. He had no idea what was going on with him, it couldn’t be guilt and that is what drove his frustration.

When he finally reached his floor he stumbled out of the doors before they were even fully opened and rushed toward his room. It took him a few seconds to get to his keycard through the pain which had suddenly appeared all throughout his body but once he did have it he crashed into the room and slammed the door shut behind him. The heat was getting to be too much for him so he made his way to the bathroom to splash some ice cold water on his face. Once he had decided he had cooled down enough he dried off his and looked at the mirror. For the first time that night he realised that it actually was possible to get worse.

Staring back at him were a set of golden eyes, his pupils blown wide open in an inhuman manner. Realising what he was seeing he fell backwards to hit against the cool tiles and took in the sight before him. His teeth had extended into fangs, the heat had increased tenfold and his eyes, he didn’t even recognise them as his own anymore. With that, the animal within took over, all control of his body was relinquished and the animal was angry. Furious at what the guy had forced him to do and what was now happening to him.

Like a hurricane Tyler wound up storming through the hotel room, throwing furniture, scratching at the sheets and walls. He felt an excruciating pain rise within him, overwhelming him as he continued to thrash around the room. By the end of it, the room was left completely and utterly destroyed. All around him noises were becoming too much; the screams and hollers of people on the streets as they laughed, the beeping of car horns and buzzing of light bulbs, not to mention the bangs of neighbours insisting he quietens down with his banging.

An hour had almost past since the initial wave of anger and thankfully he had started to calm down, the animal returning to Tyler some semblance of control over his own body. It was then that Caroline returned to their room. She had entered with a worried expression and tone as she called Tyler's name, she had grown worried when Tyler had gone missing, the body of the guy who had hit on her that had been found outside the club driving her to worry even more.

Seeing the room around himself and the state he was in Tyler rushed forward and screamed at Caroline to “GET OUT!” of their room. He slammed the door behind her and shut off the light, which she had gone to switch on before he shoved her out the room. He just hoped she hadn’t seen anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tyler ended his story then with a “and you know what happened after that” aimed at Jeremy and slumped back against the window he had never once moved away from. He gave a very audible but now human huff of breath as he felt relief at having ended his story. He looked up at Jeremy with searching eyes, wanting to know what the other man was thinking. Jeremy had no idea what to think, he hadn’t looked at Tyler for some time now, attempting to process everything that he had said.

His mind sorted through everything from the past week; discovering he’s a witch, discovering Bonnie’s a witch, discovering the guy he likes is a vampire and now the guy he used to like is probably a werewolf, what the hell was wrong with him. Jeremy looked over at Tyler and saw the fetal position he was in, knees pulled up to his chest and he looked about close to breaking. Focusing on his very human eyes Jeremy dropped to the ground next to Tyler and put a hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture.

Tyler relaxed under Jeremy’s touch, realising that he didn’t hate him, he wasn’t scared and wasn’t going anywhere. The room was silent for a few further minutes, Tyler was still breathing heavily as the effect of the full moon that had set not long ago was beginning to lose all of it’s hold on him, but still had some effect. Thankfully, for Tyler and everyone in the building, it was quite late into the night when Tyler’s curse had been triggered meaning he had missed the apex and the resulting full shift which could have taken place.

Speechless, Jeremy searched for the words he thought might comfort Tyler, that might help him get through this. Jeremy knew there was the option of telling him about his supernatural abilities but would he believe him, could Jeremy even perform a simple spell as proof after being drained as badly as he was by the spell he and Bonnie had cast. It was then that Jeremy knew what he had to do, he had to tell him, or more accurately show him. As he had learnt for the first time the past few days actions speak louder than words; It took Bonnie showing him magic when Kol couldn’t convince him, there were few words exchanged between himself and Kol and yet they seemed to always know what the other was thinking, and so, now he would have to show Tyler somehow that he is not alone.

“Tyler,” Jeremy spoke for the first time in what felt like hours. The others must be growing restless outside by now he thought. “I… I need to show you something.” Tyler looked up then, completely and utterly confused as that was not the first thing he expected Jeremy to say after his long confession, what could he possibly have to show him that would help now.

“Okay…” Tyler responded briefly, extending that one word to show that he had no idea where Jeremy was going with this.

“What I’m gonna show you… I just need you to stay calm, don’t freak out on me or anything.” Tyler nodded and Jeremy got up off the floor, starting to move about the room. He searched for a while for something he thought might be useful. The first spell he had cast had been a fire spell but there were no candles in the room and he didn’t feel like adding to the damage, and likely hefty bill, which Tyler had already caused. He continued searching until he found some pieces of a shattered light bulb laying by the bed, dangerous but it would work.

Carefully, and one by one, Jeremy started to pick up some of the larger pieces and then strode back over to Tyler, gently placing them down in front of himself as he took a seat opposite the other man. “What’s this fo…” He was cut off by Jeremy’s raise of his hand before he could continue his question. That gesture held a conviction, that what he was about to do would work and that it would help Tyler understand, so Tyler didn’t raise another question, just sat and watched.

Jeremy remembered what Bonnie had said, to picture what he wanted the object to do and not think of anything else, and so he did. It took a few seconds but eventually he opened his eyes as the first of the pieces lifted off the ground, Jeremy kept his hands firmly on his lap as he continued to focus and more of the pieces followed the first one. Tyler jumped up then and stepped back, pressed against the cool glass of the balcony’s window. “What going on Jer, is this some sort of trick?” He asked, full of scepticism that what he was seeing was anything other than some parlour trick you’d expect at a cheap magicians show.

Carefully, Jeremy lowered the glass to the ground with his mind and once all the pieces were gathered together in a small pile he got up off the ground to answer the flood of questions he knew Tyler must have by now. “No Ty, It’s not a trick. It’s real bona fide magic.” Jeremy declared this in a slightly joking manner to help ease Tyler a little.

The clarification didn’t help calm Tyler one bit, he still had more questions, he still had some fear of the power Jeremy had just displayed. For a brief moment, he forgot all about what he had turned into and what he had done, looking at the room around him. When he remembered all of this he knew his fear was misplaced and it left his thoughts. “Tyler, I know all of this is frightening. I didn’t find out about any of this,” he gestured around himself, “until a few days ago.” The thought that Jeremy was going through the same thing as him; the fear, the confusion, the disbelief, was a bit of a relief to Tyler.

“How do you deal with it?” Tyler asked full of hope, fear and a bit of sadness. Jeremy's heart broke a little at seeing this. He knew what the other man must be thinking. While Jeremy’s abilities were just magic tricks Tyler actually had a curse, he turned into a wolf and that must be ten times as terrifying as what he must be feeling.

“It could be different for you, I don’t know much about werewolves past what I learnt from crappy horror movies, even that’s not much. But for me, I let others help me get through it.” Jeremy saw the question Tyler didn’t raise written all over his face, ‘what others?’ Jeremy didn't even hesitate to tell him “Bonnie, for starters. She’s like me, a witch, I only found out about her a few days ago, the same day I found out about me.”

“Funny enough that’s the least surprising thing I’ve heard the past few days,” Tyler responded with a laugh which eased the tension in the room significantly. Tyler made his way to the bed with the least carnage on, his bed closest to the window, and took a seat. Jeremy barely hesitated before following and sitting down just next to Tyler, both of them staring ahead for a moment before Tyler began to speak. “You said “others” plural, who else besides Bonnie is like us.”

Jeremy thought about it for a moment, gauging the type of reaction Tyler might have and decided it was safe enough to tell him. Despite Tyler's calmness now Jeremy still wanted to be cautious, human Tyler was pretty strong and had some serious anger issues he had no idea what being a werewolf could do to that, even if the full moon had passed. “There’s the guy I met, the one from Fusion.” Tyler looked over to Jeremy then, remembering what had happened that day, or rather what he knew which was only that Jeremy had left with a guy who appeared to be no older than himself or Jeremy. “I wouldn’t exactly say he’s like us.”

“What is he then?” Tyler knew Jeremy was withholding information but he was adamant about finding out as much as he could. After being in the dark about himself for all these years he decided he didn’t want to ever be lied to again, and God help the person who does.

Thankfully Jeremy didn’t see much point in keeping things from Tyler, he’s one of his closest friends and he trusted him to know all about his secret, especially since Tyler was a part of it all now. “The guy, Kol, is a vampire, he’s a lot older than he looks.” Tyler's eyes widened at the information, he, like Jeremy, didn’t know much about the supernatural but he knew vampires were probably dangerous and he wanted to keep Jeremy and all his friends safe.

“Wow… this is a lot to take in.” Jeremy nodded at that but didn’t know what else to say so he just sat there in silence, staring on at his friend as he could practically see the thought running through his head. That silence when on for almost a full five minutes before it was broken by a timid knock on the door.

“Crap,” Jeremy muttered out loud. “Sorry, I guess I kept them waiting too long. Do you want me to get rid of them for you or….” Jeremy went to continue that question but Tyler got up from his seat, put a hand on Jeremy's shoulder and said “It’s alright,” before he strode over to the door. Just as Tyler put his hand on the doorknob he heard Jeremy’s voice again. “What are you gonna tell them?” The younger man inquired.

“I’ll think of something,” Tyler responded before swinging the door open to stand face to face with a tear-stained Caroline. At the sight of the person he loved appearing so visibly upset he did the first thing he could think of and went to put his arms around her but she just flinched away the second she felt Tyler get too close. “Care. I’m so sorry I freaked out on you. I was just going through something.”

Despite the broken sound of Tyler's voice that didn’t stop Caroline from mustering all the anger and force into her words as she spoke. “Are you kidding me! You were just ‘going through something!’ I was worried sick out here that something had happened to you, especially after the body of that douchebag guy turned up outside the club. I thought you were dead and then I come back here for you to scream at me and practically shove me out the door!” At that Carolines, resolve broke down and she was crying once more, Tyler didn’t dare make a move to try and comfort her, knowing what the response would be.

When Caroline had mentioned the guy from the club Tyler had visibly flinched at the thought of what he’d done. He knew the guy was dead, he could tell just by looking at him before he’d left, but hearing it confirmed was a much more terrifying thing.

“That’s it Tyler? You’ve got nothing to say for yourself?” Caroline stood there, staring at Tyler with sadness and hope in her eyes, hope that Tyler just might have a reasonable explanation for all of this that would make everything better. That was the thing. He didn’t have a reasonable explanation. He had a completely outrageous one but not a reasonable one. Tyler wanted desperately to tell her everything and hoped that she would be okay with it but he knew that wouldn’t happen, it couldn’t happen. Now was not the time to tell her but he had to say something and so Tyler decided on a half-truth.

Tyler told Caroline all about the guy from the bar, even going as far to mention that he had gotten into a fight with the man and he had ran after he had knocked the guy to the ground. When he mentioned that he was greeted with faces of disbelief from his friends, Caroline was different, her face portrayed a feeling of sadness and some horror. They all knew what he had done was self-defence but he had still killed someone and that thought was terrifying. “I…I need to take the night. I’ll talk to you about this tomorrow.” Caroline said this, too emotionally drained to run over everything he had said right now.

Caroline looked behind Tyler and into their room, seeing the destruction that he had caused with a grimace on her face, she’d seen Tyler angry and frustrated before but never enough to do that kind of damage. She looked at Tyler and then back to Elena and Bonnie, “I’m gonna stay in Elena and Bonnie's room tonight.” She said this with finality but also sadness in her voice, Tyler had no idea how they would ever get past this but he hoped they could. Tyler nodded his head in acceptance and then Caroline walked away Elena wrapping a comforting hand around her friend as she walked away.

Deciding it was better to get answers now rather than later Bonnie walked over to Jeremy with a questioning look that told him everything she was thinking. Jeremy looked over at Matt and then back to Tyler, “not here,” he whispered. Quickly Jeremy strode over to Matt “Me, Bonnie and Ty are gonna talk for a moment, you should go back to the room and get some rest.” Matt knew something was up, that he was out of the loop on something, and if everything that had happened today hadn’t then he would have insisted they tell him. Right now though, after everything he’d learnt, he didn’t think he’d want to know. Matt nodded to Jeremy before turning to walk into their room. The second the door closed behind Matt he strode back into Tyler's room and gestured for Bonnie and Tyler to follow.

It didn’t take long before the three of them were sitting in the room, avoiding as much of the debris and carnage as possible as they did. “Sooo,” Bonnie said, waiting as patiently as she could under the circumstances for some answers.

“Bon, how much do you know about werewolves?” As soon as Jeremy said this her eyes went wide in shock and she looked once more at the room around her, ‘that explained a lot,’ she thought.

She looked questioningly at Tyler and he just nodded to say ‘yes, it’s true, no matter how crazy it is.’ “Does he know about us then?” Jeremy nodded. “Okay then… I don’t know much about werewolves, Grams grimoires only say so much. I did, however, take Beatrice’s grimoire as a parting gift from the Mikaelsons, there might be something in there.” Jeremy seemed shocked at the fact that Bonnie had taken the grimoire from the originals, but honestly, it was rightfully hers and from the look of their collection they won't be missing it.

Bonnie got up and left the room. The second she left the room fell silent, the only sound in the room was Tyler’s heavy breaths. Before long Bonnie was back informing the two that Elena and Caroline were fast asleep, passing out from the exhaustion of that day. “Okay,” Bonnie said as she opened the book and started turning through the old pages, mostly preserved from a spell Jeremy could sense had been cast on it. “Here we go. According to this, the werewolf curse is triggered when someone of a werewolf bloodline kills a human, innocent or not, intentionally or not. The curse is not transmittable but will be passed on genetically.” That news didn’t do anything to calm Tyler, but at least now he knew what had happened. Worst of all what she had said could mean only one thing, either his mother or his father is a werewolf.

“Great. Anything else.”

“Yes.” She began to read aloud once more to the other two in the room. “There is no known cure for the werewolf curse. As a side effect of the curse, you will feel everything much deeper, anger and pain, sadness and loneliness. Every full moon a werewolf who has triggered the curse will succumb to the power of the moon and shift into a beast, a wolf. The transformation can take anywhere between a few minutes and a few hours.” As she said all this she looked at Tyler with worry and sadness in her eyes, Tyler, on the other hand, seemed lost. His eyes showed no signs of fear or sadness, he just stared at the walls ahead of him. “Tyler”

“Ty,” Jeremy said this walking over to him, when he put a hand on Tyler's shoulder he very visibly jumped and jerked away from the witch. “Are you okay?” Tyler processed that question for some time. Okay. None of this way okay, he was still alive, he was dealing with it, but okay wouldn’t be the word he’d use.

“What are we gonna do. We’re supposed to go back to Mystic Falls tomorrow and now I have to deal with this once a month.”

“It’ll be fine Tyler, we’ll help you get through this, we’ll do this toge…”

“That’s just it Jer, we’re not doing this together! I’m the one that’s gonna turn into that thing, I’m the one that could lose control and kill someone else. You’re a witch, you have control over what you do.”

Jeremy went to move closer, to try and comfort Tyler but he moved back and released a noise that sounded dangerously close to a growl.

“I need to take the night Jeremy. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.” With that Tyler levelled the two witches with a look that told them they should leave. Next thing they knew they were out on the hall and the door was closed in their faces.

“What are we gonna do Jeremy?” Bonnie asked this question filled with sadness, she was worried for her friend but also those around him, what if he lost control with his newly heightened emotions, what if he killed someone next full moon, a lot could happen and they had no control over it.

“I don’t know, this is all still really new to me, I was hoping you’d have some ideas.”

Bonnie huffed out a breath and thought it over, a plan came to her, it wasn’t a terrible one, but she was hoping she wouldn’t have to see the man so soon after getting away from him, she huffed another breath before speaking. “We should call Kol. He’s a 1000-year-old vampire, he’s likely had a few run-ins with werewolves throughout the years.”

At the sound of the originals name, Jeremy perked up more, the situation they were in seeming less dark for just a moment. “Yeah, good idea Bon.” Bonnie rolled her eyes, “this is about Tyler,” she reminded him. “I know. I know.” Jeremy wasted no time in pulling his phone out of his pocket and pulling up Kol’s number, before he pressed call, he froze.

“What’s up?”

“I’m just now realising I never actually see him under good circumstances.” Bonnie laughed a little in response, muttering something about their messed up lives before Jeremy pressed call.

The phone rang for a few minutes and then there was the playful answer of the man. “Hello love, miss me already did you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading my latest chapter, this one was very Tyler central and I will probably have future chapters revolving around the other characters as well, although it is mostly Jeremy's POV (from a third person perspective).


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